Donald Trump has refused efforts by Democrats in Congress to obtain files related to his son-in-law’s White House security clearance, calling the probes into his campaign and administration a “witch hunt”, and a “shame” for the United States. The comments came as House oversight committee chairman Elijah Cummings said on Tuesday that he and his colleagues would consider their “next steps” after the White House refused to hand over documents related to Jared Kushner’s security clearance. Mr Cummings had requested the documents after reports indicated Mr Trump had himself ordered his former chief of staff to grant Mr Kushner a security clearance in spite of concerns from US intelligence agents.

After weeks of White House stonewalling, House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, in a letter to the White House, said “I am now writing a final time to request your voluntary cooperation.” Cummings panel has subpoena power. Cummings highlighted in his letter a New York Times story that said Trump ordered his former chief of staff John Kelly to provide Kushner with clearance over objections from Kelly and Donald McGahn, then White House counsel. The Times said Kelly and McGahn both wrote memos about the incident and that McGahn outlined concerns raised about Kushner by career security officials, including CIA officers.

Donald Trump’s daughter, who serves as a senior adviser in the White House, denied on Friday that her father was involved in issuing security clearances for her or her husband, Jared Kushner. Ivanka Trump made the remarks during an interview with ABC News host Abby Huntsman in an interview for The View. “There were anonymous leaks about there being issues,” Ms Trump said.

Controversy erupted over the White House’s security vetting procedures last year after revelations former Staff Secretary Rob Porter was permitted to keep his security clearance for months even though the FBI said it had provided the White House a report including allegations of domestic violence from his two ex-wives. Kushner and more than 30 other Trump aides lost access to top secret intelligence in February 2018 because they had been working with “interim” clearances and their background investigations had never been completed even though some had been at the White House more than a year.